Nevin Manimala

Biol Sex Differ. 2022 Jun 15;13(1):30. doi: 10.1186/s13293-022-00440-4.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The sexual dimorphism represents one of the triggers of the metabolic disparities between the organisms, advising about wild implications in research or diagnostics contexts. Despite the mounting recognition of the importance of sex consideration in the biomedical fields, the identification of male- and female-specific metabolic signatures has not been achieved.

MAIN BODY: This review pointed the focus on the metabolic differences related to the sex, evidenced by metabolomics studies performed on healthy populations, with the leading aim of understanding how the sex influences the baseline metabolome. The main shared signatures and the apparent dissimilarities between males and females were extracted and highlighted from the metabolome of the most commonly analyzed biological fluids, such as serum, plasma, and urine. Furthermore, the influence of age and the significant interactions between sex and age have been taken into account.

CONCLUSIONS: The recognition of sex patterns in human metabolomics has been defined in diverse biofluids. The detection of sex- and age-related differences in the metabolome of healthy individuals are helpful for translational applications from the bench to the bedside to set targeted diagnostic and prevention approaches in the context of personalized medicine.

PMID:35706042 | DOI:10.1186/s13293-022-00440-4

Genome Biol. 2022 Jun 15;23(1):129. doi: 10.1186/s13059-022-02688-w.

ABSTRACT

A challenge in bulk gene differential expression analysis is to differentiate changes due to cell type-specific gene expression and cell type proportions. SCADIE is an iterative algorithm that simultaneously estimates cell type-specific gene expression profiles and cell type proportions, and performs cell type-specific differential expression analysis at the group level. Through its unique penalty and objective function, SCADIE more accurately identifies cell type-specific differentially expressed genes than existing methods, including those that may be missed from single cell RNA-Seq data. SCADIE has robust performance with respect to the choice of deconvolution methods and the sources and quality of input data.

PMID:35706040 | DOI:10.1186/s13059-022-02688-w

BMC Psychiatry. 2022 Jun 15;22(1):401. doi: 10.1186/s12888-022-04048-1.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: ADHD is classically seen as a childhood disease, although it persists in one out of two cases in adults. The diagnosis is based on a long and multidisciplinary process, involving different health professionals, leading to an under-diagnosis of adult ADHD individuals. We therefore present a psychometric screening scale for the identification of adult ADHD which could be used both in clinical and experimental settings.

METHOD: We designed the scale from the DSM-5 and administered it to n = 110 control individuals and n = 110 ADHD individuals. The number of items was reduced using multiple regression procedures. We then performed factorial analyses and a machine learning assessment of the predictive power of the scale in comparison with other clinical scales measuring common ADHD comorbidities.

RESULTS: Internal consistency coefficients were calculated satisfactorily for TRAQ10, with Cronbach’s alpha measured at .9. The 2-factor model tested was confirmed, a high correlation between the items and their belonging factor. Finally, a machine-learning analysis showed that classification algorithms could identify subjects’ group membership with high accuracy, statistically superior to the performances obtained using comorbidity scales.

CONCLUSIONS: The scale showed sufficient performance for its use in clinical and experimental settings for hypothesis testing or screening purpose, although its generalizability is limited by the age and gender biases present in the data analyzed.

PMID:35706020 | DOI:10.1186/s12888-022-04048-1

J Orthop Surg Res. 2022 Jun 15;17(1):317. doi: 10.1186/s13018-022-03209-y.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of combining a customized mold with frozen conventional clamps against other freezing and non-freezing methods.

METHODS: Forty-five porcine and 45 chicken tendons were evenly divided into five groups (n = 9 + 9/group): control group, non-freezing with gauze placed between tendon and clamp (gauze), non-freezing with suture fixation at tendon ends (suture), freezing with dry ice pocket placed at the clamps (pocket), and freezing using a templated liquid nitrogen clamp with a customized mold (mold). Tension tests were used to measure failure modes and loads.

RESULT: Slippage and avulsion were observed in non-freezing groups with significantly lower failure loads compared to freezing methods. With freezing, rupture occurred near the central point only in the mold group. The failure loads for porcine tendons in the mold group were higher (2121.651 ± 73.101 N) than the pocket group (1746.337 ± 68.849 N). The failure loads of chicken tendons in the mold (243.552 ± 15.881 N) and pocket groups (260.647 ± 22.161 N) were not statistically different.

CONCLUSION: Freezing clamps represent the better choice for soft tissue clamping. The customized mold method could improve gripping effectiveness.

PMID:35706018 | DOI:10.1186/s13018-022-03209-y

BMC Psychiatry. 2022 Jun 15;22(1):402. doi: 10.1186/s12888-022-04053-4.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The recent WHO data reported that a high treatment gap for behavioral illnesses (70%) in low- and- middle-income countries and the mortality rate of aggressive behavior reaches up to 32.1 per 100,000 populations in the region. However, the magnitude of aggressive behavior is not well stated in resource-limited settings. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and determinant factors of aggressive behavior among adults with problematic substance use in northwest Ethiopia.

METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was employed from January to March 2019. A multi-stage cluster sampling method was used to screen a total of 4028 adults for problematic substance use by using the Cutdown, Annoyed, Guilty, and Eye-opener questionnaire (CAGE AID). Finally, 838 participants were positive for problematic substance use and interviewed for aggressive behavior using a modified overt aggression scale. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to show the adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and p-value < 0.05 considered statistically significant. A multilevel binary logistic regressions model was employed for the hierarchical structure of two-level data for the individual and woreda/district levels.

RESULTS: The prevalence of aggressive behavior was found to be 37.9% (301/795, 95% CI: 34.5, 41.3). Stressful life events (AOR = 2.209, 95 CI; 1.423, 3.429), family history of mental illness (AOR = 4.038, 95 CI; 2.046, 7.971), comorbid physical illness (AOR = 2.01, 95 CI; 1.332, 3.032) and depressive symptoms (AOR = 2.342, 95 CI; 1.686, 3.253) were associated with aggressive behavior among individual with problem substance use.

CONCLUSION: Aggressive behavior was found to be high among problematic substance uses. An individual with problematic substance use is recommended to be screened by health extension workers for aggressive behavior at the community level.

PMID:35706009 | DOI:10.1186/s12888-022-04053-4

BMC Res Notes. 2022 Jun 15;15(1):206. doi: 10.1186/s13104-022-06087-z.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the development of the thoracic cross-section at the nipple line level during the early stages of life. Unlike the descriptive awareness regarding chest development course, there exist no quantitative references concerning shape, circumference and possible dependencies to age, gender or body weight. The proposed mathematical relations are expected to help create guidelines for more realistic modelling and potential detection of abnormalities. One potential application is lung electrical impedance tomography (EIT) monitoring where accurate chest models are crucial in both extracting reliable parameters for regional ventilation function and design of EIT belts. Despite their importance, such reference data is not readily available for the younger age range due to insufficient data amid the regulations of neonatal imaging.

RESULTS: Chest circumference shows the highest correlation to body weight following the relation [Formula: see text] where x is the body weight in grams and f(x) is the chest circumference in cm at the nipple line level. No statistically significant difference in chest circumference between genders was detected. However, the shape indicated signs of both age and gender dependencies with on average boys developing a more rectangular shape than girls from the age of 1 years and 9 months.

PMID:35705999 | DOI:10.1186/s13104-022-06087-z

BMC Res Notes. 2022 Jun 15;15(1):207. doi: 10.1186/s13104-022-06093-1.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: In this study, the aim was to compare the performance of four spatiotemporal decomposition algorithms (stICA, stJADE, stSOBI, and sPCA) and parameters for identifying single motor units in human skeletal muscle under voluntary isometric contractions in ultrafast ultrasound image sequences as an extension of a previous study. The performance was quantified using two measures: (1) the similarity of components’ temporal characteristics against gold standard needle electromyography recordings and (2) the agreement of detected sets of components between the different algorithms.

RESULTS: We found that out of these four algorithms, no algorithm significantly improved the motor unit identification success compared to stICA using spatial information, which was the best together with stSOBI using either spatial or temporal information. Moreover, there was a strong agreement of detected sets of components between the different algorithms. However, stJADE (using temporal information) provided with complementary successful detections. These results suggest that the choice of decomposition algorithm is not critical, but there may be a methodological improvement potential to detect more motor units.

PMID:35705997 | DOI:10.1186/s13104-022-06093-1

Malar J. 2022 Jun 15;21(1):188. doi: 10.1186/s12936-022-04196-5.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: A study was conducted prior to implementing a cluster-randomized controlled trial (CRT) of a lethal house lure strategy in central Côte d’Ivoire to provide baseline information on malaria indicators in 40 villages across five health districts.

METHODS: Human landing catches (HLC) were performed between November and December 2016, capturing mosquitoes indoors and outdoors between 18.00 and 08.00 h. Mosquitoes were processed for entomological indicators of malaria transmission (human biting, parity, sporozoite, and entomological inoculation rates (EIR)). Species composition and allelic frequencies of kdr-w and ace-1^R mutations were also investigated within the Anopheles gambiae complex.

RESULTS: Overall, 15,632 mosquitoes were captured. Anopheles gambiae sensu lato (s.l.) and Anopheles funestus were the two malaria vectors found during the survey period, with predominance for An. gambiae (66.2%) compared to An. funestus (10.3%). The mean biting rate for An. gambiae was almost five times higher than that for An. funestus (19.8 bites per person per night for An. gambiae vs 4.3 bites per person per night for An. funestus) and this was evident indoors and outdoors. Anopheles funestus was more competent to transmit malaria parasites in the study area, despite relatively lower number tested for sporozoite index (4.14% (63/1521) for An. gambiae vs 8.01% (59/736) for An. funestus; χ² = 12.216; P < 0.0001). There were no significant differences between the proportions infected outdoors and indoors for An. gambiae (4.03 vs 4.13%; χ² = 0.011; P = 0.9197) and for An. funestus (7.89 vs 8.16%; χ² = 2.58^e-29; P = 1). The majority of both infected vectors with malaria parasites harboured Plasmodium falciparum (93.65% for An. gambiae and 98. 31% for An. funestus). Overall, the EIR range for both species in the different districts appeared to be high (0.35-2.20 infected bites per human per night) with the highest value observed in the district of North-Eastern-Bouaké. There were no significant differences between transmission occurring outdoor and indoor for both species. Of the An. gambiae s.l. analysed, only An. gambiae sensu stricto (14.1%) and Anopheles coluzzii (85.9%) were found. The allelic frequencies of kdr and ace-1^R were higher in An. gambiae (0.97 for kdr and 0.19 for ace-1^R) than in An. coluzzii (0.86 for kdr and 0.10 for ace-1^R) (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: Despite universal coverage with long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) in the area, there was an abundance of the malaria vectors (An. gambiae and An. funestus) in the study area in central Côte d’Ivoire. Consistent with high insecticide resistance intensity previously detected in these districts, the current study detected high kdr frequency (> 85%), coupled with high malaria transmission pattern, which could guide the use of Eave tubes in the study areas.

PMID:35705981 | DOI:10.1186/s12936-022-04196-5

J Med Virol. 2022 Jun 15. doi: 10.1002/jmv.27940. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To systematically review and synthesize the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines in children and adolescents.

METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library databases, the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP), the Chinese Clinical Trials Registry (ChiCTR) and ClinicalTrials.gov website were searched to collect accessible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about the safety and efficacy of human COVID-19 vaccines in children and adolescents until May 1, 2022. Three steps, including duplicate removal, title and abstract screening and full-text review, were used to screen the studies. The Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for RCTs was used to assess the bias risk of the included studies. Microsoft Excel 16.57 (2021) software was used for data extraction and analysis. (PROSPERO Code No: CRD42021295422).

RESULTS: COVID-19 vaccines were evaluated in a total of 10950 children and adolescents in 7 published studies and over 49530 participants in 26 ongoing randomized controlled trials. Descriptive findings of the included published studies were reported stratified by vaccine type. The overall, local and systemic adverse events following immunization (AEFIs) reported in most trials were similar between the vaccine and placebo groups. Most of the reactions reported were mild to moderate, whereas a few were severe. The common adverse events were injection-site pain, fever, headache cough, fatigue, and muscle pain. Few clinical trials reported serious adverse events, but most of them were unrelated to vaccination. In terms of efficacy, the investigated mRNA vaccine was found to be 90.7%-100% efficacious in preventing COVID-19 among children and adolescents, revealing good efficacy profiles in this age group.

CONCLUSION: Among children and adolescents, the safety of current COVID-19 vaccines is acceptable, and studies have suggested that mRNA vaccines can provide high protection against COVID-19 infection in pediatric age groups. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:35705969 | DOI:10.1002/jmv.27940

BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2022 Jun 15;22(1):154. doi: 10.1186/s12911-022-01898-3.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Poor quality routine data contributes to poor decision-making, inefficient resource allocation, loss of confidence in the health system, and may threaten the validity of impact evaluations. For several reasons in most developing countries, the routine health information systems in those countries are described as ineffective. Hence, the aim of this study is to determine the quality of data and associated factors in the routine health management information system in health centers of Shashogo district, Hadiya Zone.

METHODS: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted from June 1, 2021, to July 1, 2021, and 300 participants were involved in the study through simple random sampling. The data was collected with a self-administered questionnaire by trained data collectors. After checking its completeness, the data was entered into EPI data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 25 for statistical analysis. Finally, variables with p < 0.05 during multivariable analysis were considered significant variables.

RESULT: A total of 300(100%) participant were included in the interview and HMIS data quality was 83% in Shashogo district health centers. The data quality in terms of accuracy, completeness, and timeliness was 79%, 86%, and 84%, respectively. Conducting supportive supervision [AOR 3.5 (1.4, 8.9)], checking accuracy [AOR 1.3 (1.5, 3.5)], filling registrations [AOR 2.7 (1.44, 7.7)], and confidence level [AOR 1.9 (1.55, 3.35)] were all rated positively found to be factors associated with data quality.

CONCLUSION: The overall level of data quality in Shashogo district health centers was found to be below the national expectation level. All dimensions of data quality in the district were below 90% in data accuracy, content completeness, and timeliness of data. Conducting supportive supervision, checking accuracy, filling registrations and confidence level were found to be factors associated with data quality. Hence, all stakeholders should give all necessary support to improve data quality in routine health information systems to truly attain the goal of providing good quality data for the decision-making process by considering the identified factors.

PMID:35705966 | DOI:10.1186/s12911-022-01898-3